Application Software Chapter 5 of Computers: Understanding Technology William Pegram - September 16,...

Application Software

Chapter 5 of Computers: Understanding Technology

William Pegram - September 16, 2009

Importance of Operating System

• Most application software is platform-dependent, i.e. it will run only with a particular operating system and must be modified to work with another operating system

• The modification of application software to work with another operating system is a major endeavor and thus often takes many months, if it occurs at all


Operating System (cont.)

• For example• Office 2008 for Macintosh was released January 15,

2008 whereas Office 2007 for Windows was released January 30, 2007

• Quicken, the popular personal finance software, runs on Windows only although a Macintosh beta version is available


Operating System (cont.)

• For this reason, the choice of an operating system will determine the range of application software choices available

• Thus, many people choose Windows machines because there is more application software than with Mac


Categories of Application Software

• Individual application software

• Workgroup, collaborative software

• Vertical application software – complete package of programs designed to work together to perform core business functions


Categories of Application Software

• Packaged software – the manufacturer owns the copyright and licenses it to the individual, often sold to the public on a retail basis

• Customized software

• Shareware and freeware, including open-source software (owned by the developer, but programming code made available free to the general pulbic)


Application Software for Individual Use

• Productivity Software

• Software for household use

• Graphics and multimedia software

• Communications software


Productivity software

• Word processing• Desktop publishing• Spreadsheet• Database• Presentation• Personal information manager• Web publishing• Project management


Word Processing

• Creating text• Editing text – spelling, grammar checker• Formatting

– Text – font type, size, color, style, leading (space between lines), kerning (space between characters)

– Paragraph – Alignment, double or single-space– Document – page numbers, headers, footers, page

size, margin width

• Saving and Printing


Word Processing Programs

• Microsoft Word

• Corel WordPerfect

• Lotus (now IBM) WordPro

• Openoffice.org Writer

• Google Docs


Desktop Publishing

• Microsoft Publisher – part of some editions of Microsoft Office

• Adobe PageMaker (still sold, but not being developed further)

• Adobe InDesign • QuarkXPress• Publisher and PageMaker for home and

small office market, whereas InDesign and QuarkXPress for professional market


Spreadsheets

• Microsoft Excel (ITE 140)

• Lotus Development (now IBM) 1-2-3

• Corel Quattro Pro

• Openoffice.org CALC

• Google Docs


Database

• Microsoft Access (ITE 150)

• Lotus Development (now IBM) Approach

• Corel Paradox

• Openoffice.org Base

• Larger applications– Oracle– Microsoft SQL Server– mySQL


Presentation

• Microsoft PowerPoint

• Corel Presentations

• Lotus Development (now IBM) Freelance Graphics

• Openoffice.org Impress

• Google Docs


Software Suites

• Word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation typically are purchased as part of an office suite of programs rather than purchased individually

• Suites provide a common user interface (more standardization than just using Windows)

• Suites offer ability to make content from one program available to another, either by pasting or object linking and embedding (OLE) – embedded file can be changed but changes aren’t reflected in original, whereas with linking they are


Personal Information Manager

• Microsoft Outlook and Palm Desktop

• Helps organize contact information, appointments, tasks, and notes


Web Publishing

• Adobe Dreamweaver (ITE 170, ITD 210)

• Microsoft Expression Web (successor to FrontPage)


Project Management

• Project management software is used to manage project so that resources are available when needed

• Microsoft Project


Software for Household Use

• Distinction: Productivity software can be used for anything whereas the following are for particular uses

• Personal finance – Intuit Quicken, Microsoft Money• Tax preparation – Intuit TurboTax, H&R Block TaxCut• Legal software – Intuit WillMaker Plus• Games and entertainment• Educational and Reference Software – Encylopedias,

dictionaries, and tutorials• Accounting – Peachtree (ACC 215), Intuit QuickBooks


Graphics and Multimedia Software

• Painting - Paint• Drawing – CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator,

Macromedia (now Adobe) Freehand• Image-editing (ITD 112) – Adobe Photoshop,

Macromedia (now Adobe) Fireworks (ITE 170), Adobe Photoshop Elements

• Animation - Macromedia (now Adobe) Flash (ITE 170)

• Video and Audio Editing – Adobe Premiere• Computer-aided design (CAD)


Communications Software

• Email

• Web browsers

• Instant messaging

• Groupware or collaboration software – e.g. company wikis (see Vauhini Vara, “Wikis at Work”, Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2007 , p. R11), Google Docs

• Video conferencing software


Application Software Chapter 5 of Computers: Understanding Technology William Pegram - September 16,...

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